Orange Chicken

We had about twelve oranges in the house the other day, so I decided to use some of them to make this Asian dish which I've had in restaurants, but had never made at home. I made the sauce early in the day, fried the chicken a little later, and put it all together when it was time to eat..It was yummy!!

For the sauce:
1 cup orange juice
the zest of one orange
2 cups water
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
1  1/2 cups brown sugar
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp salt
3 cloves crushed garlic
3 Tbl cornstarch mixed with 4-5 Tbl cold water
Combine all ingredients except for the cornstarch mixture in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.  Add the cornstarch mixture and continue to boil until the sauce thickens.  Set aside.


For the chicken:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves cut into 1 to 1 1/2 inch cubes
Your favorite tempura batter prepared according to directions
Enough vegetable oil to reach about 3/4 inch in a large frying pan
Batter the chicken pieces in the tempura and fry them until starting to brown, about 3 minutes per side. Do this in batches(you don't want to over crowd the pan).  Set the pieces on a baking sheet.


To put it together you'll also need:
1 lb of thawed broccoli florets( if using fresh, steam them for a couple of minutes)
1 can sliced water chestnuts


Place the sheet of chicken in a 400F oven for ten minutes.  In a large frying pan or wok, combine the sauce with the broccoli and water chestnuts and heat to simmering.  Add the chicken and gently combine.  Serve over rice.


Note: Use other vegetables if you like: peppers, pea pods, carrots, zucchini would work well